Seperate Worlds
by Duck Life
Summary: What happens to Lily and Jonas after the book ends. Lily gets a boyfriend. More chapters to follow. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Lily, who had just celebrated her (individual) thirteenth birthday, dropped her bike on the ground next to a boy sitting quiet

Lily, who had just celebrated her (individual) thirteenth birthday, dropped her bike on the ground next to a boy sitting quietly against a tree. "Hello, Marcus!" she called cheerfully.

"Oh, hi Lily. I-I um…wrote you a-a poem," he stuttered nervously. He held out a quivering sheet of loose-leaf paper to her. Lily grasped it and stared at the cramped hand-writing scrawled across the page.

_Her eyes are blue like the deepest sea,_

_Her hair as fine as gold._

_I wish as I sit against this tree_

_That we'll be together 'til we're old._

When Lily was done reading, she looked up. "Marc, I-um…don't know what to say…"

"Say yes, then," pleaded Marcus, his eyes shining. Lily smiled, then grasped Marcus's hand and trotted off into the sunset, her bicycle forgotten.

Jonas was standing next to Gabriel and staring out at the horizon on a brisk April morning. It had been four years that he'd lived in a world with a sun, but he never tired of the beauty. Every morning Gabe woke Jonas and said, "Jo, the sun's about to come up!" Jonas would hurry outside and they would stare in wonder as the orange globe was painted into the sky.

It was that moment that he remembered Lily. He didn't know why he had thought of her, but he did. She would be thirteen now, and she would have an assignment. Perhaps storyteller. Right now she was getting dressed, slipping into a tunic the exact shade of everything else in the community, not deciding to wear something else, because she could not make choices. She might even be wishing Father luck today while he _murdered _a newchild. Or maybe she wasn't. Maybe she was deciding to wear a blue top as opposed to a red one. Maybe she was wishing Father luck at the hospital, where mothers had their own children. She would go out and ride her bike, enjoying the sunny day and the green grass…But Jonas had no way of knowing how things were at home. It was worlds away. He could never go back. The sun was high in the sky, now, and Jonas followed Gabe back into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily speeded down the street on her bike

Lily speeded down the street on her bike. She was thinking about The Change. That's what they called it now, how everything was different. Everyone seemed happier, there were no more releases, and apples were always, always red. She remembered the day The Change had started. It was a few days after the Ceremony. She had been riding her new, shiny bicycle when the grass around her changed. Just for an instant, it flashed, then changed again and stayed that way. All the grass around her was changing somehow! Lily was a sensible girl, and so she ran to ask the Giver for advice. When she got to the Annex building, she raced in. The attendant was not there. Pounding on the door in a matter of strange, new urgency, she yelled, "Mr. Giver! I need help!" He opened the door.

"Yes, Miss Lily?" he inquired politely. Lily took a deep breath and said,

"Things are changing. I don't know how or why, but they are. Does this have anything to do with becoming a nine?" The Giver smiled at her.

"Things are changing for everyone. You are Receiving."

That had been four years ago. Now, Lily understood. It was sad, though. She remembered Jonas. He was merely a shadow of the past. Her first real feeling after the change was sorrow, true, deep sorrow, that her brother was gone forever, lost in the swirling river.

Four years ago, when Jonas had come to the real world, he knew that he needed a place to live, food, and probably the strange substance called _money, _which the Giver had warned him about. First, he'd found a shed and fixed it up. A nearby family invited Gabe and Jonas over for Christmas dinner and let Jonas take home all the leftovers. He lived off those until he was able to buy food.

His job made him smile whenever he thought of it. He had become a Storyteller. Some stories were his own, and some were Lily's. Every Wednesday afternoon, people paid him five dollars for a story and ten dollars for a book. Jonas thought they were overpriced, but no one complained. He figured he was just a great storyteller. Sometimes Gabe helped him act out the stories, becoming a noisy airplane or a tall tree. Life was going well, but still Jonas missed his family.


	3. Chapter 3

Jonas had decided to do something about how he felt

Jonas had decided to do something about how he felt. It was that reckless daring that he had come to associate with sledding. He had thought and thought about what was causing him distress, and then realized that the answer was entirely logical. He missed the people in the community. Hence, he would go back.

He wasn't going to ride a bike there. He had learned the journey was much too dangerous for that. He also knew roughly how much food he would need, and he didn't have to steal or sneak anything. It was so simple, yet incredibly complicated. He would ride for eight days and nights on his motorcycle, pausing twice a day for a small meal. He even bought a sidecar for Gabe. The night before he left, he ate a wholesome meal of Salisbury steak, green beans, and brown bread. He fell asleep quickly, woke up early, and set on his way.

He couldn't lie and say it was an easy journey. It was difficult, but so much easier in comparison to his earlier trek that he may as well have been walking next door. His ride was extremely boring, though Gabe enjoyed pointing out the birds. If you wanted more explanation, I'm sorry, but I'm sure you didn't. The whole thing would have been: He rode for three hours. He ate. He rode for six hours. He ate. He rode for three more hours. He slept. He woke up. He rode for three hours. Gabe saw a bird…And so on and so on.

Anyway, he made it to the community right on schedule. Right away, he could tell something was different. Young children were running around picking up colored eggs hidden in the startlingly green grass and plopping them in decorative baskets. Jonas knew at once that this was a tradition of a holiday he learned about three years ago, called Easter. It was proof that the community had truly changed its ways.


	4. Chapter 4

Lily was taking a quiet walk down the street

Lily was taking a quiet walk down the street. The sun was shining brightly and the grass, though it was nearly noon, was shining with dew. As Lily watched the dew, she saw something strange. There was a large orange orb right in the middle of it. "An Easter egg," she thought to herself. No sooner had she thought this then a small boy, around seven, grabbed the egg and put it in an empty paper sack. He looked up at Lily.

"Hi!" he said brightly. Lily grinned.

"Hi!" she replied. The boy had curly blond hair and huge, blue eyes. He reminded her of someone, but she couldn't think whom. She watched him sprint into the distance, racing to grab a bright, purple egg, and she walked on and forgot about him.

She was late for a date with Marcus.

Gabe was tugging on Jonas's hand. "I wanna go get eggs, Joey! I wanna play Easter!" Jonas, who still corrected him self and others when they used improper language, smiled down at Gabriel.

"You want to go get eggs, and you celebrate Easter, you don't play it," Jonas scolded. Gabe scowled at him.

"I want to go get eggs so I can celebrate Easter," he said flatly. Jonas laughed and picked up a brown paper sack of the ground. He handed it to Gabe and watched him run away towards the sidewalk, pursuing an orange egg.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that day, Jonas was settling down to sleep behind the House of the Old, as he figured it would be a good idea to lay low

Later that day, Jonas was settling down to sleep behind the House of the Old, as he figured it would be a good idea to lay low for a while. He was supervising as Gabe attacked a peanut-butter sandwich. (When he was done, there was more peanut butter on his shirt than in his stomach.) "Jo," he said, "I made a new friend today." His eyes were shining. Jonas laughed.

"Who?" he inquired. Gabe smiled.

"She was older than me, but she was younger than you, and she had yellow hair."

"Blond," Jonas corrected.

"Oh, she had yellow blond." Jonas giggled.

Later on, after Gabriel was sleeping, Jonas stared out at the red sky and pondered Gabe's friend. A blond girl, maybe ten, or-he gasped. Thirteen. Gabriel's new friend was Lily.


	6. Chapter 6

It all happened on a foggy night in October

Lily was running home. It didn't occur to her until later that she'd left her bike. She didn't care. She had never been this happy. Real happiness, not the fake life she'd lived before. She was amid a pool of ecstasy, and no one could drag her out. Everything that ever had been was gone, replaced by the new, enlightened life she led. Marcus had kissed her, and nothing would ever be the same. She was in love. It was another feeling that came along during The Change, but she hadn't ever felt it this much before.

Jonas was taking a walk under the moon. Suddenly, he saw a blond girl running as fast as she could. It was Lily.

Lily saw a boy, older than she was, walking a little ways away. She gasped. It was her brother! She screamed, and Jonas screamed, and they embraced. "I thought you fell into the river!" said Lily between sobs.

"Lily, let go, come on, let's go home." Hand in hand, they did. Lily told him about everything that had happened to her. When she got to Marcus, Jonas stopped her.

"You've got a boyfriend?" he asked, thinking to himself that he would check this punk out. Lily told him everything, from the poem to the kiss. "He KISSED you?!" yelped Jonas incredulously.

"Jonas," Lily told him seriously, "I'm not a baby anymore. I'm in love!" With that, she danced through the front door of her house, Jonas racing after her.


	7. Chapter 7

Lily's parents were sitting down to dinner

Lily's parents were sitting down to dinner. "Where is Lily tonight?" Mr. Parent wondered aloud. He fidgeted with his stew. His wife had been cooking since The Change, and, well, he assumed that it was because she hadn't ever really learned to cook, but her culinary skills were far from the skills of the chefs the community once had. Even so, Mr. Parent was glad to find out that there was variety now. Sometimes, when they ordered food, he could choose to have pizza, or ravioli, or a cheeseburger, or almost anything else! It was mind-blowing!

Mrs. Parent replied, "I think she's with Marcus." She smiled. Lily was growing up and falling in love at the perfect age. Mrs. Parent was glad that her daughter didn't have to wait until she was forty-five to discover emotion. she imagined Lily, in a satin white dress, standing next to a handsome man in a tuxedo. She was so far from the tiny girl whose ribbons had dangled from her hair…

Suddenly, there was a crash! "Mom? Dad?" A tall boy of seventeen was standing in the entryway to their doorway. He had pale blue eyes, and a younger boy with the same blue eyes was standing behind him. next to him was Lily, smiling and hugging the boy. Mr. Parent looked up.

"Jonas?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, this is the last chapter. I've been putting this story off because of all my other stories, and I really think I need to finish it. I hope you like it, and I could always add in-between stories, more explanation on everything that happened to Jonas, on request. I might even do a short fluff story about Lily and Marcus. So, without further ado, the final chapter:**

**EPILOGUE**

Jonas was sad to learn of the Giver's death, but pleased that he had lived until his death really was a death, and not a Release. He was amazed at how different the community had become in just four years. People married of their own will, and had children by their selves. It was better than the life he had lived for the past few years, because people remained polite, and everything was orderly. Also, because emotions like love and happiness were brand new, people seemed to use them a lot.

Years past, and Lily eventually married Marcus. They had twins, a boy and a girl. The twins were named Amelia and Dexter. Soon after Lily's wedding, Jonas grew extremely lonely. He was taking a walk around the community when he ran into Fiona. Her hair still shone as brightly as before, the sun dancing off her red curls. She had been surprised to see him, and had run forward to hug him. Soon after, they, too, were wed. They had a daughter, Rosemary. Gabe went to live with the Parents after Jonas had discovered them. He grew up to be a well-known scientist, and discovered and invented many things that helped the environment. Eventually, he married his shy assistant, Katrina. They had five kids, Lauren, Angela, Samuel, Nathan, and Marion. Mr. and Mrs. Parent grew lonely with all their children leaving, so they moved to Hawaii and opened a real estate company. Asher married one of the many newcomers to the community. She was amazed at the way everything had been so well controlled, and said that she had come to study the small city. Asher often joked about her, Francine, being the scientist, and he and his friends being monkeys. Francine and Asher fell in love, eloped, and had three children, Tyler, Bob, and Georgia. Everyone had the memories, the colors, feelings, and the music. They really did live happily ever after.


End file.
